What's the winning number in this pick-a-number game?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around a pick-a-number game where participants choose a number that is 80 percent of the average of all numbers picked by players. The valid range for choices is between 0 and 100, and the game emphasizes the honor system for submissions.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant suggests that the target number is calculated by taking the average of all choices, multiplying by 0.8, and rounding to the nearest millionth.
  • Another participant shares their choice as pi/10000, indicating a mathematical approach.
  • A different participant proposes a complex mathematical expression involving limits and sums, showcasing a more theoretical perspective.
  • Several participants choose the number 42, with one expressing skepticism about the validity of this choice given the unknown number of responses.
  • Another participant opts for 22.001, while yet another chooses 34 + e^sqrt(2), indicating a range of strategies in selecting numbers.
  • One participant notes the challenge of entering a short number due to message length requirements.
  • Another participant simply states their choice as 14.9.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

There is no consensus on the best number to choose, as participants have varied approaches and opinions on their selections. Multiple competing views remain regarding the strategies for picking a number.

Contextual Notes

Participants express uncertainty about how many responses will be factored into the average, which may influence their choices.

BobG
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Choose the number that is 80 percent of the average of all the numbers picked by players of this game.

The valid range of choices are all real numbers from 0 to 100.

The target number is determined by adding up all the choices of the players, dividing by the number of players, and multiplying by 0.800000 (all numbers are rounded to the nearest millionth).

Make your choice before looking at other people's choices. You're on the honor system here, plus the only thing you win is a nice smiley icon in the post announcing you as the winner so we're not talking irrestible temptation here.

You can put your answer in hidden text to lessen the chance of people inadvertantly seeing other people's answers before choosing. Currently, that color is not in the standard color list, so if you want to change the text to match the background color, use the code and don't forget to close the tag at the end using [/ color], except without the space between the slash and "color."
 
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Make your choices in hidden text (my choice doesn't count, since I'll do the tabulating).

My choice is pi/10000[/color]
 
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BobG said:
You can put your answer in hidden text to lessen the chance of people inadvertantly seeing other people's answers before choosing. Currently, that color is not in the standard color list, so if you want to change the text to match the background color, use the code and don't forget to close the tag at the end using [/ color], except without the space between the slash and "color."

According to firebug, it's actually #e3e3e3.

Code:
.alt1, .alt1Active { 
background:#E3E3E3 none repeat scroll 0 0;

like this[/color]
 
My pick:

\pi^2 \lim_{n\rightarrow \infty} \left\{ \sup_{a_{ij}\in\mathbb{R},\, \mathbf{x}_i,\mathbf{y}_j\in\mathbb{C}^n} \left\{ \left| \sum_{i=1}^n\sum_{j=1}^n a_{ij} \, \frac{\mathbf{x}_i \cdot\mathbf{y}_j}{\left| \mathbf{x}_i \right| \left| \mathbf{y}_j \right|} \right| \middle/ \sup_{s_i, t_j \in \mathbb{R}} \left| \sum_{i=1}^n\sum_{j=1}^n a_{ij} \, \frac{s_i \, t_j}{\left| s_i\right| \left| t_j\right|} \right| \right\} \right\}
 
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Okay, I'll give it a try, though the odds are against me going early without any idea how many responses might be factored into the average.

I'm going to guess:
The answer is 42.[/color]
 
if this is serious then

42[/color] :biggrin:
 
Moonbear said:
Okay, I'll give it a try, though the odds are against me going early without any idea how many responses might be factored into the average.

I'm going to guess:
The answer is 42.[/color]


do I smell something here?
 
Just to make it easy for people, here is a copy-and-pasteable color tag to enclose around your answer:

[noparse] [/color][/noparse]

And my pick: 22.001[/color]
 
Okay, my pick is

34 + e^sqrt(2)[/color]
 
  • #10
32

but entering just two digits gives too short a message, so I have to write something below
 
  • #11
39.9999...
 
  • #12
14.9[/color]
 

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